Apple presents the best of 2018

The Apps, Games, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts and More That Shaped Entertainment and Culture Around the World This Year

As the year comes to a close there are so many unanswered questions: Who is Kiki, and does she love me? Should I start a podcast? Where is Donut County? Why didn’t Offred escape Gilead (again!)? Today, Apple reveals the Best of 2018, a global collection of top charts and selects from our editors across every category highlighting all of the amazing things to watch, read, listen to and play across apps, music, podcasts, books, TV and movies. It’s an invariable list of the who’s who and what’s what from the past year that is certain to help answer at least some of the most burning questions and make for fun conversation around any holiday dinner table.

The App Store

This year, Battle Royale-style games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile dominated global gaming culture with exciting, last-player-standing action, while innovative apps like Fabulous, Shine, 10% Happier and Headspace expanded the practice of wellness around the world to make self-care more accessible than ever before.

Apple Music

To close out an extraordinary year, Apple Music’s editors have awarded highest honors to the artists who truly represent the very best of 2018. Drake owns the Artist of the Year category while country’s Kasey Musgraves scores Album of the Year for her dynamic Golden Hour. The fiery collaboration between Cardi B, J. Balvin and Bad Bunny made “I Like It” an easy choice for Song of the Year and Breakout Artist Juice WRLD has been giving everyone “Lucid Dreams” all year long. But these all-stars weren’t the only stars: Apple Music’s global year-end charts and editorial playlists are packed with the year’s biggest hits and favorites from all over the world.

Best Music of the Year

Artist of the Year: Drake
Breakout Artist of the Year: Juice WRLD
Song of the Year: I Like It - Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny & J. Balvin
Album of the Year: Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

Apple Podcasts

This year, investigative reporting underpinned the immersive storytelling of shows such as American Public Media’s In the Dark, The New York Times’s “Caliphate,” along with historical deep dives like Slate's“Slow Burn.”News and Politics grew as podcast genres in 2018 with The New York Times's “The Daily” and Crooked Media’s “The Wilderness,” while celebrities and a healthy mix of independents topped this year’s new shows, including Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert,” “Oprah’s Master Class” and Parcast Network's “Conspiracy Theories” and “Unexplained Mysteries.”

Best Podcasts of the Year

In The Dark
Caliphate
The Dream
Everything is Alive
Slow Burn
Dr. Death
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Bubble
Bundyville
A Very Fatal Murder
Wolverine: The Long Night
Serial
The Daily
This American Life
99% Invisible

Top 25 Most Downloaded Podcasts of the Year
Top 25 Most Downloaded New Podcasts of the Year

TV and Movies

The movies and TV shows of the year represent a rich mix of genres and topics ranging from indie, documentaries and animation to drama, horror and action. “Black Panther” and “Killing Eve” are the top picks of the year; they, along with other notable titles such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Hereditary” and “Pose,” have been praised by critics and fans alike and fueled pop culture conversations and die-hard fandom around the world.

The Americans
Atlanta
Barry
The Expanse
The Good Fight
The Good Place
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Pose

Apple Books

In 2018, Apple Books launched as a brand new app, making it effortless for iPhone and iPad users to discover and enjoy books and audiobooks. This year Apple Books celebrates works from a diverse group of authors, including Tommy Orange's debut There There; Tayari Jones’s American Marriage that is both the Book and Audiobook of the Year; and Rachel Hollis's Girl, Wash Your Face. Politics dominated the U.S. charts this year with Fire and Fury, Fear and A Higher Loyalty all appearing in the top 10 best-selling nonfiction books. On the fiction front, readers remain rabid for books adapted for the screen, including Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects.

Book of the Year: American Marriage
Best Nonfiction: The Library Book
Best Mystery: The Witch Elm
Best Thriller: Light It Up
Best Bio/Memoir: Educated
Best Romance: Too Wilde to Wed
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy: Spinning Silver
Best Feel-Good Fiction: When Life Gives You Lululemons
Best Literary Fiction: There There
Best Young Reader Book: Harbor Me

Best Audiobooks of the Year

Audiobook of the Year: American Marriage
Best Nonfiction: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Best Mystery: Something in the Water
Best Thriller: Long Road to Mercy
Best Bio/Memoir: Becoming
Best Business Audiobook: Dare to Lead
Best Health, Mind, Body: Girl, Wash Your Face
Best Family Audiobook: Rebound
Best Humor: Calypso
Best Historical Fiction: The Great Alone